Poetry is a powerful genre that allows children to develop language and literary competence, critique texts, and recreate stories using their own voices and their own perspectives.
There tend to be two types of teachers when it comes to poetry: Ones who love it and bring it into the classroom freely and often. Then others stay clear. The reason for this may be because they don’t think it fits with the curriculum and what they are teaching. They may not “have time” to fit it in. Or they may not enjoy poetry themselves, and this prevents them from introducing it in the classroom.
If the love is not there *yet* for you, I give you this challenge. Give it a try! Open a book of poems. Read the odd poem to your class. Find a poem that goes along with your classroom theme and share. Ask children about their experiences with poetry and how it makes them feel.
The following is a list of children books that showcase or inspires poetry.
My Village: Rhymes from Around the World Edited by Danielle Wright, Illustrated by Mique Moriuchi
by Betsy E. Snyder
Homemade Love by bell hooks, Illustrated by Shane W. Evans
Full, Full, Full of Love by Trish Cooke, Illustrated by Paul Howard
H Is For Haiku: A Treasury of Haiku From A To Z by Sydell Rosenberg, Illustrated by Sawsan Chalabi
Poetree by Shuana LaVoy Reynolds, Illustrated by Shahrzad Maydani
Love To Mama: A Tribute To Mothers Edited by Pat Mora, Illustrated by Paula Barragan
Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera, Illustrated by Lauren Castillo
Read the article "Freedom for Me is to Play Heartily in a Playground" Writing oetry Develops Children's Voices: Young Children, November 2017
https://www.jstor.org/stable/90015853?seq=1
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